


Under Pressure

by GuildedAdversary



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Angst, Bullying, Gen, General School stress, High School AU, I'll update the tags as needed, Mental Illness, Psychology, Slice of Life, Teen Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 01:46:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18297800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuildedAdversary/pseuds/GuildedAdversary
Summary: Being a teacher isn't easy, especially when your students don't want to co-operate, but after a quick brainstorming session with his co-workers, Freddie thinks he may have figured out how to use John and Roger's strengths to win this fight.





	Under Pressure

**Author's Note:**

> This was a request from a friend on discord. I hope it's to your liking! I'm already looking forward to working on the next installment! Thank you to anotheronebitesthedeaks on tumblr and my friend, Nyk, for beta reading for me! ;w;

“I hate children.”

“No you don’t, Fred.” Brian sighed as he picked up his mug. “You’re just irritated. You’ll love them again by the end of the year.”

Freddie pursed his lips and squinted at Brian from across the table. Brian was right, of course, but Freddie wasn’t going to admit it. At least, not today.

“You can’t hate students you’ve never had to deal with before,” Brian went on. “You’ve just met them.”

“You forget that Roger has failed my class before and let me tell you, darling, he isn’t shaping up to be any better this time around. Don’t you have him this year, too? Tell me: How is that going?”

He watched Brian take a long sip from his mug, as though he was savoring and identifying the complex flavors of his drink. Freddie knew better. No one liked the shitty teacher’s lounge coffee, especially not that much. Brian was just stalling.

Finally, Brian gave a defeated sigh.

“Roger might be a problem, but just because you have one trouble student doesn’t mean you hate all of them.”

“You know what? You’re right. I can’t make an assumption about a group just because of two problem children.”

Brian raised a brow at that. “Two?”

“You don’t think John leaving the room when he was supposed to do his speech counts as a problem?”

“John’s just shy, Fred. Lots of students have anxieties about speech. He’ll get over it soon, just like the rest of them.”

“Shy?! He left!”

“That is a bit much for just some anxiety, Brian…” Their attention turned to Jim, who, up until this point, had been silently taking in the conversation. Brian threw his hands up in defeat.

“Fine. You have two problem students. Maybe you should be figuring out how to work with them instead of complaining about them?”

“Why do you think I’m telling you this? I’ve run out of ideas with Roger. I don’t even know where to begin with John.”

“Well there has to be something.” Resting his chin in his hand, Brian continued, “At least for John. I’ve not had a single problem with him…”

Jim shrugged. “Sorry, Freddie. He’s quiet and a bit of a perfectionist, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard a teacher complain about him. He’s normally a model student.”

Brian straightened, looking at Jim as though the man had said something revolutionary. “He is, isn’t he? He’s quiet but studious. Everything he’s done this year has just been shy of perfection.” He turned to Freddie. “But Roger is the opposite, almost in every way. He slacks off in certain areas, but when he does turn something in, the kid’s brilliant and outgoing. Most teacher’s like him despite his grades because he’s so outgoing-”

Freddie held up his hand, interrupting the clearly rambling scientist. “Why are we complimenting Roger?”

“Roger and John are the very antithesis of each other, but both of them are brilliant in their own ways. Play off of it. Give them a project to do together, see if it helps. Let them strengthen each other.”

“Yes, that’s a wonderful idea,” Jim said. “No way it could backfire.”

“Jim’s right, Brian. We’ve all had a Roger for a group project at one point or another. John gets stuck with the work while Roger gets the easy part.”

“Except it isn’t the easy part for John. John excels academically. It comes naturally to him. Talking and acting in front of people comes naturally to Roger. Obviously they both need to contribute to the assignment in some way. If Roger gives 25% to the project itself and then 75% to the presentation, that’s 100% of work. If John does 75% of the project and only 25% of the presentation part, that’s 100%. Perfect scores all around, each playing on the strength and weakness of the other. It could be exactly what they need.”

Freddie took a moment to soak it in. If it worked out the way Brian was playing it in his head, it would be perfect for the two of them. ‘If’ being the keyword. Jim looked unconvinced. But before any of them could say anything, the warning bell rang.

*

He had a lot of dislikes, but there were very few things that John truly hated.

Speeches were one thing. He’d learned that rather recently when he’d stood up, fully intending to deliver his speech to the class as everyone before him had, only to find himself in a bathroom stall crying. He still wasn’t entirely sure what happened between standing and the bathroom stall, but from the look Mr. Mercury had given him, he had a feeling that it wasn’t a speech.

The second thing was crowds, especially when a crowd’s attention was focused on him. This was probably why he wound up in the bathroom crying instead of giving a speech. 

John shifted uncomfortably in his seat, carefully keeping his eyes focused on the board as Mr. Mercury continued to describe the next presentation. The words “group project” had caused a wave of quiet murmurs, and seats creaked slightly as people began looking around, scoping out prospective partners. It wasn’t uncommon for most of the eyes to fall on him, people leaning desperately to try and catch his attention. 

He didn’t mind group projects, especially since they rarely turned out to be ‘group’ projects for him. John did the work, turned it in, everyone got credit with minimal socializing between the group. It was like any other assignment he did. 

But given how his speech turned out last time, he needed to be careful when choosing his partner. He needed someone that wouldn’t mind doing the presentation itself. The only problem was that he didn’t really know anyone in this class. 

“Luckily, I’ve done some of the work for you all.” Mr. Mercury waved a piece of paper dramatically through the air. “I’ve already assigned your partners.”

The class made various noises of disappointment and everyone shifted their attention back to the teacher. The relief John would’ve felt was overridden by a sinking feeling in his gut. If his partner was already assigned, there was a good chance of him getting someone who would leave presenting to John. He fiddled with his pencil, twisting it nervously through his fingers as the names were called out and people moved seats.

“And the final pair: John Deacon…”

There was one more thing he hated.

“...and Roger Taylor.”

Him.


End file.
